Mary, sweet Mary
by tamarag
Summary: One day Carlos' mother, Maria, reads the news in the local paper that Carlos' wife, Mary, was found in uncounscious and is now in the New York hospital. Carlos rushes to visit his wife who he have not seen in over a year while Maria brings the news to th
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not owe 7th heaven or any of the characters, with the exception of Maria and the dog, Masturd. I might create any other minor characters along the way but for the most part they all belong to the show. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: Monday morning at Carlos' house

If you have been following the last season of 7th Heaven you all should know that Mary and Carlos are married and live together in New York. They have a son, Charlie, who is about 4 years old or so. More than that the Camden children found out that Mary decided to take a break from her married life, leaving her husband and her son and moving out.

Now about a year later and still there is no signs of Mary. Annie and Eric are now fully aware of the situation and since Simon was kind enough to let his mom know that Mary was not pregnant and instead left her family behind to take a break, has gone to New York a few times to try to comfort Carlos and her grandson and to offer them her help and most of all her sympathy. Eric and the rest of the family pray for Mary's wellbeing daily since none of them heard anything of her where abouts.

Carlos lives with his son, who goes to kindergarten and is being watched my Maria, his paternal grandmother. Maria recently moved in with Carlos and her grandson after the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, Carlos Jose Senior. It has been about five months but both Maria and Carlos are still in shock after the death of their beloved father and husband. Charlie, who is about five does not yet comprehend the sorrows or the difficult times that the family is going through.

Now is it Monday early morning about 6 am but Carlos is already up making his daily coffee and getting ready to take their dog Mustard for a morning walk. Since the dog is a big one: the mix of Lab and Golden Retriever, Carlos enjoys running along with the dog to get his daily work out and to help him get his day started. About an hour has passed and Carlos is already back home when he sees his mom sitting at the kitchen table with New York Times in her hands.

"Good morning mom," Carlos says with the smile as he takes the leash of of the dog's collar.

"Mornin' '' says Maria abruptly without even lifting her eyes from the news paper.

Carlos takes a step closer to the table. Right away he notices his mother's concerned face and wonders what could be the matter. He approaches her closer and proceeds to give her a hug and a kiss like always but right away notices that his mom's eyes are slightly damp.

"I know it is still hard on you mom," says Carlos "but let me also give you a gentle reminder. It has been now over year that daddy passed and as sad as it sounds I believe you have to try to accept the fact. I know I did as hard as it was for me. Maybe you need to start to get out there more often and busy yourself with a hobby or..."

Slowly Maria puts down the newspaper and looks up at her son.

"Sit down, we need to talk."

Carlos quickly lowers himself into the kitchen chair.

"It is not me I am worried about and daddy is not the reason I am crying. I am afraid to tell you this but it might be Mary who I am concerned and worried about."

"Mom, I do not get you. What are you talking about?" Carlos looks at her with big puzzled eyes.

"I know I am your mother and I should be the one to tell you the sad news and then take you in my arms to comfort you but I will not do that. You should read the paper for yourself and find out what is going on with your wife. I respect the Camdens, all of them but daddy and I always had a bad feeling about Mary. We kept telling you she was no good for you. So now read it and see for yourself what it is all about."

Maria hands the paper to her son and quickly gets up with the mug in her hand to go get herself some of the coffee.

Chapter 2: Sad news

Carlos took the newspaper in his hands and quickly read the title in big bold letters; "A 30 year old female convicted of possession of a deadly weapon and drugs." Without wasting any time or asking any questions from his mother, Carlos proceeded to read the article. After about five minutes and many deep breaths and shakes of his head, Carlos slammed the paper on the table.

"Dios Mio,Carajo," he yelled. He was about to yell and curse more as he mother stopped him abruptly. "Carlos, stop all that right now, you have the little one in the house." Carlos immediately looked up and saw that his son was sitting on the floor with a few toys around his.

"Mornin," he said to his son as a matter of fact.

"Good morning daddy." Charlie ran to his father and gave him a quick kiss but somehow could sense that it was not such a good morning for his father. Being only five he knew and was very well aware of the absence of his mother in the house. After all he was nearly four years old when Mary walked out on the both of them. Usually the absence of his mother did not bother Charlie a little bit but there were few occasions that scared him and he would run to his father to question him about his mother's where abouts and to wonder if one day his father would do the same to him. He almost never talked about his mom to Maria as throughout the year he learned that she did not like to speak of that matter. Neither did Carlos but after all he was the father to his son, his hope, his guardian, and above all his provider. That is why after reading the article that morning, Carlos was not himself.

"Charlie, would it be ok if grandma drops you off at school today. You see, daddy has to go to in to work early to work on something in the office. But i promise you that when you come home today we can go out for your favorite treat after dinner time."

Being that almost all of the time Charlie was a well behaved kid and did not cause any problems, he quickly agreed to the idea of Maria taking him to school.

"Great, now go wash up and dressed or you will be late." Charlie quickly ran upstairs while Carlos got up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" inquired Maria.

"Off to the hospital, to see Mary." "I know she is not well," Carlos continued "but I need some answers, I need a closer in mine and my son's life. I cannot bare to be upset anymore when I look at the pictures of us, of what is used to be the perfect family. Please God keep her alive before I get there." Carlos was almost out the door.

"Vaya con Dios, let God help you." Maria ran up to him and gave him a quick kiss.

With those words and with his heart beating fast, Carlos climbed inside of his Honda and started on his way to St. John's New York Hospital.

Guys, please review and let me know what you think. This is my first time writing this. I have many more ideas but i want to know what you think of this one so far.

Chapter 3: On the way to the hospital

His ride to the hospital was rather nerve wracking. The ride usually took him about no more than 15 minutes but today the traffic was especially heavy and after almost 10 minutes he was yet again stuck at the red light. Nervously he pulled out his cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans and said into the receiver "work." After waiting for the phone to dial the number he put the phone to his ear.

"Good morning, Miss Baker please. Oh, ok. Yes, it is Carlos, Carlos Contreras. Tell her I will be in my office a little after 1. Yes, let her know it is a family matter that has to be taken care of. Yes, everything is alright. No but thanks, bye." After handing up the phone and dropping it in the empty seat next to him. Carlos pressed on the gas paddle and zoomed through Main street.   
"Yes, one more turn on that corner and two blocks down and I will be there." Carlos remembered the directions to the hospital very clearly. The hospital was the place where Mary gave birth to their son, it was the place where the three of them spent a frantic and an exosted weekend once when Charlie was running 101 degree fever; it was the place where his father spent the last couple days of his life, and finally now it was the place where he hoped to find his wife., Mary, no matter how mad he was at her." he still prayed and hoped she was fine and alive when he reaches the doors of the hospital room.

Once at the parking lot, Carlos grabbed the first available parking spot now even realizing that it had a handicap sign on it. He quickly came out of the car, slamming th door behind. He started to run towards the main entrance.

"Sir, sir, you cannot park..." was all that he could hear now as he was entering the revolving doors of the hospital. He quickly ran towards the desk.

"Good morning," an elderly voice greeted him.

Carlos was not even taking his time to look at the person or to reply.

"Yes, I am here to see Mary Camden-Contreras," he said in a hurried voice.

"Ok, do you know when she was admitted to the hospital?" the lady asked picking up the patient's information binder.

"I think it was last night, yes it was last night," Carlos said almost loosing his breath. "Right now," he frantically thought to himself, every minute counts, maybe even a second.

"Ok," said the lady at the help desk. "Mary is in the emergency wing of the hospital. But I am very afraid you would not be able to see her at this moment because she is uncouncsious and the doctors are running tests on her to figure out her condition."

"Well, I am sorry but she is my wife and I need to see her right now. She might not be alive soon any longer." Carlos was almost yelling at the lady behind the desk while his eyes started to cloud and feel up with tears like that of a little child whose parent did not full fill the dream in the toy store.

The lady picked up the phone and started dialing some numbers. Carlos stood nervous looking at her.

"Yes... there is a gentleman here who says he is the patient's husband. He wants to see her really bad. Is there any... Ok sure, I will let her know. Thank you Dr. Stone." She put the receiver down and faced Carlos.

"Ok Sir, you can take the elevator on your right and go up to the seventh floor and ask for room number eleven. She is there. But remember what I told you. Be gentle with her. She has not woken up since we got her there last night."

Carlos thanks the elderly lady and quickly walked off to towards the elevator, His heart was beating fast and his body was sweating. He needed to know if his wife and the mother of his son was still alive and if he would be able to talk to her and get some answers. He needed some type of closer but more than that did his son.

Chapter 4: Maria spills the sad news,

While Carlos is in the hospital, Maria comes back home after dropping of Charlie at school and buying some groceries for the week. She walks into the door as she hears the phone ring. She puts down her grocery bag and walks into the living room and picks up the phone. Right away she recognizes Annie's voice.

"Hi Annie. Is anything the matter? How is the family? How are the children?" While inquiring all of those questions, Maria hesitates not knowing weather or not to tell Annie about her oldest daughter or weather she already knows and that was the reason for her call.

"Everyone is fine. Children are off to school, and college and I just finished dropping the little ones as well. Eric is in the office and I am home tending for Savannah and cooking dinner," Annie started to explain. "so how are you three doing? How is my favorite guy, Charlie?"

"Everyone is doing fine, just fine," Maria proceeded to explain but her voice seem to trail off/

"Great, wonderful, then I have a great plan for the three of you. Eric, the kids, and I would like to invite you to come out here to Glenoak for Thanks Giving. I know it is on a short notice and you only have two weeks left but I hope you three can make it out here. I know we have not seen each other in what seemed like ages."

Maria lightened up and seems to smile. "Well, Annie, thank you so much. We will consider the warm invitation of yours." Maria was always short and to the point. She hated beating around the bush and letting others linger or be in the limbo. She needed to find out what Annie knows about Mary but for some reason she could not bring herself to say anything.

There was a long outdrawn pause between the two ladies, After couple seconds of silence Annie spoke up first: "Well, you think about the invitation, tell the new to Carlos and Charlie and I hope you guys can come. You know how much we love to have you here." Maria was still silent. At this moment Annie suddenly started to sense that something was the matter with her mother-in-law. As long as she knew her, which was not exactly too long, Maria was never that quiet and always had something to talk about.

"Maria, are you still there? Is anything the matter?" asked Annie in a caring but yet somewhat worried voice.

"Well," Maria finally started talking. "it is Mary, your daughter, Mary. We know where she is. I read the article in the paper today and now Carlos is in the hospital visiting with her." Maria could tell that Annie started to shake.

"No not my Mary, my sweet little Mary." She barely knew the rest of the story but already big tears were running down her face and cheeks. But she needed to know the rest of the story. She wanted to know why is her daughter and most importantly if her daughter is going ok.

"Well, I picked up the paper today" Maria continued, "the title read that a 28 year old was busted for possession of drugs and deadly weapon. So i proceeded to read more. It turns out that they found Mary uncounsious by the strip bar not that far from our house and that she was laying on ground huddled over and wearing barely any clothing. Right away she was admitted to the local hospital and when the paramedics where checking her out for vital signs they found the gun tucked in her bra and some illegal drugs, names of which they do not mention. The reporters say the victim will be faced with charges depending on more details once she wakes up and is able to talk. The bar was contacted and the owner said that Mary was one of the new dancers out there and from what the customers were saying she probably got into a fight over a guy or was drunk after the show and by loosing the fight was thrown outside of the bar. It is not yet certain where or how she obtain the weapon or the drugs."

Annie listed while her whole body was trembling. She was now sitting on the stool but it felt like it was not giving her any support. She almost felt faint.

"I am sorry Annie,. I am very sorry to be the one to give you the sad news." Maria simply said. (Like you know, she did not really like Mary from the beginning that much at all.

"So am I" Annie sobbed "but thanks for letting me know. I am going to call Eric, make some arrangements and we are going to fly out to New York the first thing tonight." Both ladies hang up.

Chapter 5: In the hospital

In the hospital, Carlos was walking out of the elevator and searching for room number eleven with his eyes. But the thought of seeing Mary still alive started to cloud his vision. He was walking so fast without looking at where he was going that he almost bumped into a person

"Excuse me." he mumbled as he almost knocked the person over. He looked up. Immediately he recognized the young lady nurse who assisted him when his son was born.

"I am sorry" Carlos said again this time more clearly. "I think you and I have met here before. But I am sorry I cannot recall your name."  
"Ms Smith" said the nurse "and who are you?" She was not sure at all who the gentlemen in front of her was since long five years has passed and since then she has seen many a faces most of them she could hardly ever recall.

"Yes, I am Carlos, the father of Charlie Contreras. You were the one who assisted while my wife was giving birth." Carlos was now very surprised himself why after five years he still remembered Ms. Smith's face so clearly. He looked at her again now. For a second he even forgot where he was going and what he purpose in this hospital was.

"Yes vaugly" continued Ms. Smith "you know sir, I meet new faces every day and honestly do not remember many. But in any case, how can I help you today, Mr, Contreras?"

"Call me Carlos please and yes, I need to know where room number eleven is. I am here to see my wife, Mary, the one that was admitted to the hospital last night."

"I am sorry to hear that" said the nurse sympathetically. "I have not heard of such a patient but then again I happened to be off duty last night. But I can gladly show you where the room is . In fact follow me since I was heading that way myself,"

Carlos immediately followed the nurse to the room where his wife was. When he approached the room he thanked the nurse who promised that she will try to come by to check in on Mary's condition.

Slowly Carlos opened the door to the room. Right in front of him he saw a bed with what looked like a person laying in it and a guy in white coat bended over the bed. Hearing the door being open the guy turned to face it.

"Hi, may I help you?" he asked Carlos.

"Yes, sir, I am sorry to bother you but I am here to see my wife, Mary." Carlos said in a quick voice.

"I am sorry sir. I am afraid not. She is in critical condition and has not woken up since last night at all."

"I understand sir but you see" Carlos pleaded with the doctor "she is my wife and I have not seen her for a very long time. It is very important if I stay here and I promise i won't disturb her a bit."

"well," said the doctor thinking, 'all I can tell you is that you can seat in that chair off to the side and wait for her to wake up. Sorry to inform you but I am not sure ow long it might take. But Dr. Matt Camden should be here shortly to do more tests on her." Before Carlos could say anything more, the doctor rushed out of the room and closed the door behind him. Carlos walked over to Mary's bed and stood there staring at her. He desperately wanted to kiss her, hug her touch her; to know that in fact she was still breathing and alive but knowing what kind of condition she was in he did not dare.

Carlos walked over to the chair that the doctor told him to seat in and slowly lowered his body into it. He was glad that Matt Camden would her her doctor in care but what he was still confused about is whether or not Matt realized that the patient was his own sister; someone he has not seen in a very long time and even more than that has no clue of her whereabouts. All he could do now was seat here and wait, wait for the answers to come to him and hopefully the right once.

" It is passed the due time." Carlos thought to himself out loud. "To me she always seemed to be the strong one; one with a lot of will power. That means only one thing- she is going to make it; she has no other choice." With those comforting words on his mind, Carlos closed his eyes so not to think of anything else and let his mind free.

Chapter 6: Packing and such

With her hands shaking, Annie dialed Eric's church office and in a confused manner delivered him the news about Mary and her whereabouts. It was decided right away that Eric was to come home shortly after lunch and as soon as the kids got home both Annie and Eric would take the first available flight out to New York.

After receiving the news about Mary, Eric did not feel any better than Annie but knowing that his wife was the worrier in the family he told himself that he needed to try to come down and to stay strong just for the sake of his family. He knew that after his heart surgery a couple years ago he could not afford to worry too much or otherwise the family would be taking care of him instead of focusing on Mary, who was the critical piece at this point in life. Eric decided to walk over across the street from his office to order some lunch to go so that way his wife and him could eat and then pack while the children got back home. He was not sure how long they are going to spend in New York so he needed to find a babysitter or at least someone who is going to watch the children for at least two to three days. He also needed to find a reason or maybe an right excuse for now as to why mom and him where flying out to New York on such a short notice or actually on almost no notice at all. His mind was racing. He started to get worried.

Right away he went to his desk and retrieved his phone book from the middle draw. He sat on the couch with the phone in hands and quickly started looking for possible people to call to see if anyone is available to take care of Ruthie, Sam and David. With Simon being away in college and with Lucy and Kevin old enough to move out but at the same time very busy taking care of their daughter, the task did not seem so much. He flipped through couple of pages until he spotted Mrs. Joyce's name on one of the pages. Right away without further a due he dialed the number and in just a few brief seconds Mrs. Joyce picked up the phone. After another couple of seconds and a very brief but great conversation Eric put down the phone and quickly realized that he should call Annie to let her know that he has found someone to watch the kids. Then he got all his papers ready, walked over to the deli to get some lunch and quickly drove home.

At home both Annie and Eric ate in silence, both looking very sad and ready to cry at any given moment. Neither of them knew how serious was Mary's condition. Annie already made the necessary phone calls to the hospital but was not able to get a lot of answers since the only thing the doctor was able to tell her is that her condition is stable and that she have not woken up since she was admitted the night before. Almost whispering, Annie told the news to his husband. After lunch Eric went upstairs to pack some clothes for the both of them while Annie finished cooking dinner and fed Savannah who have just woken up from her mid day nap.

About three pm the children started coming home, actually Eric went to get the three of them since their schools were close to one another. All the way to and from school, he was busy thinking as to what they are going to tell the children about going to New York. In fact he was very concerned. He did not want to break down the news to them so soon; at least not until Annie and him went over there and find stuff out for themselves. Eric was rather concerned about the situation that he barely noticed when Ruthie turned to him with a question. (It was Friday and Ruthie wanted to know if it was possible for her to skip dinner and go over to Steve's house, the boy she was seeing for a couple weeks now).

"Dad, dad," Ruthie started to say but quickly realized that dad was not really paining her much attention. "Dad," she continued but he still was not looking. "Are you ok?" she asked now in a concerned voice.

"Oh yeah, sorry Ruth, I was just thinking..." his voice quickly trailed off. Suddenly the idea came to his head but before he could say anything to his daughter Ruthie spoke again.

"What were you thinking about dad?" she asked him looking right into his eyes. All four of them now left the car and were walking towards the house.

"I was just thinking about...in fact how would you feel if Mrs. Joyce watched you and the twins for a couple of days? Mom and I have to fly out to New York to go visit Carlos and the family." Ruthie did not know how to respond. But before she could say anymore, she saw her mother who came out of the house looking like she was crying.

Chapter 7: More bad news and the silent flight

Right away Ruthie ran up to her mother.

"Are you ok? Is anyone hurt? Whats the matter? You look upset and dad looked much concerned all the way home and he tells me that you two need to leave us with the babysitter and to go to New York. But why?" It was evident that Ruthie needed the answers and she wanted them right away.

Annie looked at Eric but right away could read in his eyes and facial expression that he would be the one to come up with the story at least for now till more things clear up.

"Well," Eric started in a calm voice; the most calm he could put together in this situation. "you see, earlier today your uncle Carlos called. He told us that he met a lovely lady that his mother finally met a lovely gentlemen that she eventually wants to start her life with. But before anything she wants to make sure that I, as a minister, approve of him. I know it is a very short notice but you know how Maria is skeptical of anyone and everything especially after the death of her husband." Eric was not sure Ruthie would understand the concept behind it but at least at his moment it was one of the more believable stories that she would be able to buy. "Just for the time being, just for the time being." he thought to himself.

"Sure dad it is fine with me. But what I don't understand is why does mom have to go along with you? Isn't preaching something that you do on your own and you usually are good at it and do not need help?" asked Ruthie who was still a bit confused and not exactly buying the whole Camden story.

"Well you see," Annie stepped into the conversation "The gentlemen lives about an hour away and Maria wants Eric to go visit with him and while both of them are gone and with Carlos working, someone has to look after Charlie. Plus we have not seen him in a long while and it just seemed right that I go along with your father to go visit my grandson. We will be only gone for the weekend we promise you. And besides, Mrs. Joyce is a lot of fun and I will ask her to take you guys out to lunch tomorrow but you have to promise to behave, do all of your homework and make sure to help her out with the twins. And remember, Lucy and Kevin are next door in the garage apartment, so remember if you need anything you can always talk to them. After all they are a part of this family."

Ruthie was now at ease and with Mrs. Joyce who just arrived to their house she ran upstairs to start doing her homework so later she could play with Sam and David. For a while she forgot all about Steve. She ran into her room and immediately took out her homework and sat down at the desk to do it.

Meanwhile Eric phoned Kevin at the station and briefly told him that Annie and he have to go to New York to visit with Carlos. Just for the sake of his daughter and knowing how much Kevin did not like lying to her, Eric gave Kevin the same explanation as he did to the rest of his children. Kevin sounded a bit confused as to why there was such as rush and a short notice of things but really did not seem to mind nor question his father-in-law.

In about 20 minutes after the Camden parents were ready, the cab picked them up and drove them to the local airport. The drive to the airport seemed rather short and after the Camdens arrived, they checked in of what seemed like almost no luggage and got on the plane. The flight seemed extremely long for both Annie and Eric. Both were seating exciously in theur seats, barely saying anything to each other. All they kept thinking was the same: their daughter Mary. "Lets pray she is ok and is still alive by the time we get to New York. We want to see her. That is all that matters right now. God help her." With those silent prayers Annie and Eric fell asleep and slept through the rest of the flight to New York.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 8 Dr. Mat's Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not owe any of the 7th heaven characters besides the ones that I create myself.

As you remember in the previous chapter, both Annie and Eric flew out to New York to see their daughter, Mary, who was in the hospital. Mary's husband whom she left a little over a year ago was already in the hospital and was in the room with Mary a waiting for her brother, Dr. Mat, to come in to do more tests. Well, read on to find out what happens when Mat meets with Mary and Carlos and the rest of his family. See what also happens when the rest of the children find out the real reason why their parents flew out to New York on such a short notice. Hope you enjoy it.

After seating in the corner chair for a while, Carlos was getting very anxious but also very tired and not even noticing it himself, he started falling asleep. His head started hitting his chest and next thing he knew he was completely asleep. But all of a sudden he started hearing strange noise. He quickly opened his eyes and was shocked when to his surprise he was his own brother- in- law entering the room.

"Mat?" asked Carlos in a shock more from being suddenly woken up than from seeing Mat in the room. "What are you doing here?"

Mat looked blankly at Carlos, not even sure what to say in response.

"Well…" he started to say. "I have been working in this hospital for a while now. Ever since Sarah and I moved, I got a position here. But let me ask you" Mat continued, "what are _you_ doing here?" He really stressed the word you.

"Didn't you know who your patient is? I really thought you would have known before you came to treat her. She happens to be your own sister, Mary." Carlos said it all calmly as a matter of fact. Mat looked at Carlos in a shock, like he was just fooled. He was obviously shocked for two reasons: one he did not know anything about his sister for over a year now. As sad as it might sound he did not think of her as often now as he did when he first found out that she left her family and disappeared. He really wanted to know how and why Carlos found out about Mary but at the same time he knew that time was of an essence and that he could not afford to loose any if he wanted to in fact see his sister alive. He asked Carlos to step out of the room and quickly and carefully started performing the much needed test on her in hopes to find out what was wrong with her and why she was admitted into the hospital.

Chapter 9 Carlos and Mat finally talk

After another hour, Mat finally came out of the room. He went straight to Carlos who was asleep once again. Mat was nervous and sweaty. Even though the results of the tests have not yet come in, he already did not have a good vibe about Mary's condition. He also wanted to get any other pieces of information that might be vital that Carlos knew that he was lacking.

Gently he nudged Carlos who quickly woke up. They both decided that for the confidentiality purposes they are to go to an empty conference room where they could discuss all the necessarily details. They took the elevator downstairs where they found a small tiny room with a round table and couple chairs. Both Mat and Carlos went in and shut the door behind them. Very nervous and finally needing the answers, Mat spoke up first.

"Carlos, I know you want to know the results of the tests that I did while in the room. But unfortunately they will not be ready for another couple of hours or so. But meanwhile if you do not mind, can you please fill me in as to how you found out about Mary's whereabouts." Right away Carlos started filling Mat in on how this very early morning his mother was reading the New York Times and found an article that she was interested in and spotted the picture of Mary on the bottom of it. Even though it was not a clear shot, she was able to recognize Mary right away. He pulled out the folded piece of the newspaper and gave it to Mat to read.

After couple seconds Mat looked back at Carlos. He still did not have all the answers he was hoping to get but neither did Carlos. Both guys looked at each other and took deep breaths not sure what to say or to do next. All they could really do now was to wait for test results and for Mary to be in a more stable condition to be able to explain herself to them. Once again both Mat and Carlos were seating in silence not saying much to each other; just thinking about Mary and her future and both praying that God could grand her one. All of a sudden Mat's beeper went off and he was called to go into another project. He told Carlos that he will be back as soon as he can and he will discuss more details as they get them. Carlos was left alone once again. He was left alone to his thoughts and decided that the best thing to do for now was to try to calm down and relax and not to think about Mary until he gets more answers but… the task at hand was not as easy as he thought.

Mat went back to Mary's room. Went he walked in, to his surprise, she was finally awake. The nurse and another doctor were next to her bed. She seemed alert enough and her eyes were fully open. "That is a good sign." Mat thought to himself and he neared the bed. As he came closer he could see that Mary had many small scars on her face and that her right check was swollen.   
"Hi Mary." Mat said rather simply. He did not want to tell her yet that he was her brother but was sure that sooner than later she would be able to recognize him. After having a brief conversation with the nurse and the other doctor and filling them in on some more important details of the patient, Mat asked to be left alone with Mary at least for a brief period of time.

As soon as he was left alone with Mary, Mat made sure that the door to the room was securely closed. He came to Mary's bed once again and once again started by saying: "Hi Mary, I am Dr. Mat. How are you feeling today?" Right away he could see tears in her eyes….

Chapter 10: Mary's surprise.

With her eyes now full of tears, Mary looked up at Mat. She looked more like a child than a grown up woman. Neither of them was sure where to start. To begin with Mat was not all that sure the reason for Mary's tears and not knowing whether or not she has recognized him, did not want to shock her more than needed. Still looking shocked and scared, Mary decided to speak up first. "Hi Mat," she began as she lowered her eyes. "I am not sure where or how to start but I think I might as well tell you the whole truth because sooner or later you will find it out any how."

Mary took a deep breath. Right away Mat noticed that it was still hard for Mary to speak and that she was struggling but he was not sure yet as to why. The test results would be reviling the answers soon.

"Don't worry for now." Mat started to respond but saw that Mary now had her face buried in her lap and was crying more. "It is ok." Mat continued to assure her. "You are here and I will do whatever needed so that you will be fine soon." He told his sister but the sad reality struck him other wise. While he was standing and comforting his sister, he heard his beeper and knew that he would have to leave her for a short while. He also knew that Carlos would be very anxious to see her but did not want to overwhelm Mary now and decided that it would be best to let her rest for a while longer while he went to get her test results.

Mat left the room telling Mary that he will be back as soon as he can. On his way back he once again visited with Carlos to tell him good news about Mary who has woken up and was doing pretty good considering her condition just couple hours ago. Carlos was happy and was even more eager to see Mary and to talk to her however Mat told him to wake for a while longer until he got the test results. Then after discussing the results with Mary, Mat promised to go get Carlos and bring him into the room. Carlos agreed with him and told him that in the meantime he will go and call his mother to let her know the good news. Mat also asked him to call his own parents in Glenoak to let them know about Mary and her condition. He decided that for now it would be best not to tell either Annie or Eric any of the shocking details about how and when Mary was found by the local bar the night before. Neither Mat nor Carlos knew that both Annie and Eric were already well on their way to the hospital and that both of them were aware of Mary's well being. With those words and much more positive thoughts in his mind Mat left Carlos and went to obtain the test results in hopes that all of them were positive.

I hope you like those three new chapters. Write back and let me know what you think. I am going to start on another chapter and hopefully update soon. So write back with your ideas and suggestions. All are welcome as long as they are positive and nice.

Chapter 11 Mary's story:

Mat quickly walked to the lab room where he was greeted by the lab technician.

"Good morning Sir" said Jose with a heavy Spanish accent. He was new to the hospital and did not know many names yet so instead he referred to people as Sir and Mam.

Before Mat was able to respond, Jose handed him the result papers. "Those are for the room number 11" said Jose. "They look bueno." Jose added.

"Gracias." Mat said smiling. It has been only a few times that he has spoken with Jose but already he has picked up quite a few phrases in Spanish. Mat took the papers and quickly took a glace at them. "Positive, positive, good…" he said to himself as he headed towards the door. As Mat was taking the elevator to go talk to yet another doctor about the results, he was smiling to himself. Even though he did not know the whole story yet he had a good vibe about his sister's health. He knew that no matter what happened she was and is a strong individual and would be on her feet rather fast.

Mat headed over to the main room where he quickly showed the result papers to Dr. Miller. Dr. Miller was an older lady and was working in New York Hospital for over 20 years. In fact Dr. Miller was Mat's supervisor but she was a sweet easy going lady and Mat loved working with her. While Dr. Miller was looking over the result papers and putting them down in Mary's file, Mat informed her about the happy and shocking news that Mary was his sister. After hearing the story, Dr. Miller went over to Mat and gave him a big hug. She knew a lot about Mat's life and knew how much his family meant to him. She let Mat go to talk to his sister to be able to catch up on life. But she also gently reminded him that if Mary seemed tired not to overwhelm her and to take it slow and easy. Dr. Mat thanked Dr. Miller and was on his way to see Mary again. As much as he wanted to let Carlos see his wife, he decided it be best to talk to her alone first for at least couple of minutes and after letting her know that Carlos was here to see her, see how she feels about it first and then bring him in.

Slowly and carefully Mat walked into Mary's room. Mary was still lying on her bad, her eyes still open. When she heard the door open she turned her head towards it.

"Mary, it is only me, Mat" he said in a quite voice as to not to scare her.

"It is ok" Mary answered. "Come here and seat down. I need to talk to you." Mat walked over to Mary and pulled the chair next to her side.

"I owe you a story. It is a long one. But I will tell you a short version. I am sure you will have to hear more details when I would have to face my other family." Mary started crying once again. Quickly, she turned her face away from her brother. It was evident that she felt shame and pain. Mat took her hand in his to comfort her.

"It is ok. It is all behind you. Whatever it is, I am sure God has already forgiven you for your foolish acts. Now stop crying and tell me how you ended up in this hospital and how come you were admitted under a different last name." Mat had much more questions for Mary but knew it best to let her tell the story all by herself.

"Well," Mary started slowly. "After loosing my job one day, I came home and decided that I was not a good enough wife or a mother. With my job as a pilot I was barely ever home and spent little to no time with my husband or my son." Mary looked away.

"I know it was not easy. Mary we talked every day." Mat responded. Even after a year, he was pleased with the impulse decision that Mary made but seeing her now, he did not want to start of on the bad note, so instead he decided to let her continue the story and deal with the after math of it later.

Chapter 11: While Mary's story goes on:


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